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Saturday, June 17, 2006

Headstone Stolen from Unknown Cowboy Grave

"Unknown Cowboy" headstone stolen from the Belcherville Cemetery in Nocoma.

It was a simple stone, the kind seen all over this tiny cemetery northwest of Nocona. It marked the burial spot for a ranch cowboy. He worked less than a full day for the ranch and was killed in a fall from a bucking horse and buried. No one knew his name.

The stone, stolen in the last few weeks, read plainly, "Unknown Cowboy."

The grave of the unknown cowboy was unknown to a lot of people here; the Belcherville Cemetery is in a remote part of the county. Belcherville is only a bend in the road with a couple of houses on either side. The cemetery is about a mile and a half from the hardtop.